At the Dubai headquarters of Oblong Contemporary Gallery, an event was held to highlight the importance of a cultural and artistic bridge between Italy and the Middle East. The focus was on Pietrasanta, presented by a distinguished speaker, Massimo Mallegni, a former mayor who has always been connected to the Tuscan city of art. Pietrasanta is internationally renowned for its bronze foundries and marble workshops where artists' sculptures have been created for centuries.
Pietrasanta is, in fact, a treasure trove rich in art and history, a stage that has seen great artists grow and become famous, thanks also to the presence of artisans who, for generations, have taught how to transform materials into art.
The event also featured artist Antonio Signorini, who has five monumental exhibitions to his credit in Venice, Forte dei Marmi, Florence, Dubai, and Beirut. He spoke about the poetics tied to his works.
An avid anthropology scholar, Signorini shapes monumental statues depicting dancers, guardians, and horses in bronze using the lost wax technique.
The figures created by Antonio Signorini are, in fact, a blend of cultures and eras, ferrymen capable of uniting worlds and universes and narrating the history of mankind. They dance, run, fight, and defend the traditions that have given life to our civilization over the centuries, but they do so with a gaze towards the future.
They are born slender, swift, and quick, as quick as the time that inexorably passes. In the human imagination, the horse evokes freedom and beauty, but it has not always been so.
It carries, in fact, a dual aspect that simultaneously highlights the positive and negative characteristics of the animal.Just consider that in archaic times, the horse was associated with the realm of the dead and later with the Sun deity; it has always been synonymous with elegance and power, and it seems to have the task of going beyond, then returning and leading the followers.The horse remains the only animal companion of man, aware of its own strength, and thus able to choose if and when to follow him.
In Hinduism, the term "Avatar" means descent and incarnation of a deity, and to traverse time, the creatures of Antonio Signorini must and want to have this connotation.
The management of Oblong Contemporary Gallery, through these events, aims to create a cultural bridge, a dialogue mediated by modern and contemporary art, highlighting the experiences of various artists to better understand the different approaches each of them has towards art. They aim to show how experience, history, and respect for the culture of various countries are integral parts of the creative process for each artist, with the full awareness that the Gulf region will be a protagonist on the international cultural and artistic scene in the coming generations.
May 29, 2024
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